It was a late, late night, and Kali wanted nothing more to do than sleep. But no, her freaking superior had to call her to the scene of a new murder, one where the mages had found no fingerprints, no magical residue, and worst of all, no one with an incentive to kill the person murdered. She was an elderly shut-in, no relatives at all, and probably hadn't left her house since the Doman war. There were no signs of a break-in, there was nothing taken from the house, no signs of a struggle...as if someone had called a professional hit on the woman and gotten someone to teleport in. But no, the mages had made sure no one just teleported in either-no magical residue at all. Not even a ghost, according to them.

In short, it was one of those perfect mystery murders. No incentive, no reward, just a dead body. Even with the knife still in her back. So why'd they call her out?

In the words of her superior, "It takes someone with drive to do the work that a normal person can't. A little old granny can lift a full cart off her grandson if his life is in danger. It was a truly driven white mage that created the spell of resurrection. And you, miss Kali, are about to be a very driven young woman. You're going to find out who murdered this old lady or you're not going to have a job. You have two weeks."

Damn superiors and their damn cleverness.

Hell, the rest of the Guard had even gone to bed already. All she had was a little baggy with the murder knife, still caked in blood, and directions to the old lady's home.

It promised to be a very LONG night. <p><div style="text-align:center"> </div></p>